"Doctor Who" schedule on Sci-Fi

Thanks to Milhouse for bringing my attention to Matt Roush's article
about March TV schedules. Here's some expansion on Matt's information
about "Doctor Who."

The series will begin on March 17th at 9:00 p.m., between reruns of

wdstarr...

Have any details come out yet about the financial deal -- how
much Sci-Fi is paying the BBC (or vice versa[1]) to carry the
show in the U.S.?

1: Pre-emptive joke. I made it so nobody else will.

"Stargate SG-1" and "Battlestar Galactica." (In other words, in the
"Stargate Atlantis" slot. The three Sci-Fi Friday shows have their
season finales on March 10.) Of course, there will also be another
airing at midnight.

On March 24, the first episode ("Rose") will be repeated at 8:00 p.m.
before the initial airing of "The End of the World," so if you run
across anyone who misses the March 17 airing, let them know that they
can get caught up on the following Friday.

weberm...

So I take it they won't be playing the old episodes?

Benjamin Elliott...

SciFi has only bought the new version of Doctor Who at this time. And only
series 1 (the first 13 episodes), with an option to buy series 2 if they're
happy with the performance of series 1.

Ubiquitous...

There was a second season of the new Doctor Who?

SoHillsGuy...

There will be, starting in about three weeks or so.

Ubiquitous...

Are they unaired eps with the latest actor in the title role
or his replacement?

SoHillsGuy...

The 2006 episodes star David Tennant.

If they were to buy the old episodes, they still wouldn't air them on Sci-Fi
Friday, their block for *new* SciFi shows. They'd air at other times of the
day/week. The only way I could see SciFi buying old Doctor Who would be if
the new version did better in the ratings than Battlestar Galactica,
Stargate SG-1, and Stargate Atlantis. Much better.

Ubiquitous...

Oh, I wouldn't expect them to play it on Fridays, unless they're still
in the habit of hyper-promoting a show for half a year and then silently
replacing it.

SciFi is apparently not going to give Doctor Who a high profile launch.
There will be some ads, but it won't be pushed like a miniseries or
Galactica.

Benjamin F. Elliott